


Of holding 'hands'

by FlyingDutchy



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 04:59:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16847593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyingDutchy/pseuds/FlyingDutchy
Summary: Kara gets jealous of people flirting or staring at Alex and unwittingly stakes her claim.





	Of holding 'hands'

 

 **It is ironic that, having to hide her non-humanness from the public,** it is precisely that alter-ego which allows her to do things that Kara Danvers cannot ever do. The bar is crowded with alien and human life and this evening she isn’t here as Kara Danvers but as Supergirl in human clothing. 

She’s surrounded by her friends, Winn, James’ and J’onn, celebrating their first month without major, alien incidents. Saving the world was nice and all, but this break was more then welcome. Alex had complained it was boring as hell, almost wishing for some more action. Kara sips from her near empty glass and glances at Alex at the bar. Her sister is supposed to bring them refills, but she was stuck at the bar after a regular struck a conversation with her.

At first, Kara doesn’t mind. The stranger, a Zrinigum she gleans from the webs between her fingers and deep black eyes but who otherwise looked like a humanoid, seemed friendly and listened to whatever Alex was telling. Alex had glanced a few times towards Kara, excusing for her tardiness with the drinks, and continued the conversation.

That had been all _fine_.

Then, the Zrinigum puts the back of her hand against Alex’s forearm and Kara’s glass snaps in her hand. Humans may not know this, but the top of the hand is very sensitive to the Zrinigum females—for the males it was the opposite side—and this was a clear sensual touch. Even though Alex didn’t seem to know the significance.

Kara dusts the shards of glass of her hands into the trash and takes three steps towards her sister at the bar.

“How brave that you risk your life to protect us aliens on your planet.” The Zrinigum said with a slightly nasal tone. This species has two modes of voice, deep and timbre, and slightly nasal but lighter. The first was normal, the other was when aroused and looking for a mate. The Zrinigum was beautiful, Kara must admit, with long swirling black hair all the way to her feet matching her skin color as was always the case with Zrinigums.

“Alex, how’s it coming with the drinks.” She slips in behind Alex and throws her arms across the brunette’s should in a familial hug. Then she turns to the other alien. “Oh, hey, don’t believe we’ve met. Supergirl.”

She makes sure to press the back of the hand she’d thrown over Alex’s shoulder against the base of her sister’s neck. Alex’s conversational partner’s eyes flick between her friendly outstretched hand and the one claiming the agent. The alien takes the hand. “Irozhuliamizo, but you can call me Mizo.” She won’t.

There’s a tense moment between the two aliens. Kara has seen this in movies many times, a female friend cuts in to save another from an annoying guy. Only this time Alex has no idea that Kara was saving her, because that is totally what she is doing. Uh-huh, what _else_ could she be doing this for?

For good measure, she rubs the top of her feet along Alex’s calves. This got the attention of her sister who shoots her a perplexed look. Kara smiles sheepishly, knowing that Alex would chalk it down next to her other eccentricities.

“Kara,” Alex hisses in her ear. “We’re in public.”

Kara retreats with her feet but not before whispering back. The hand on her sister’s neck drops down to encircle Alex’s wrist with her thumb and index finger resting just below the pulse point. She softly strokes with her thumb. “Continue at home then?”

Only, her whisper is just a tad bit louder than Alex’s. Precisely so that the Zrinigum hears it. Her eyes widen slightly. The only one oblivious to the double meaning is her sister, who nods an affirmative, probably just assuming Kara wants to cuddle on the couch.

She smiles at Irozhuliamizo and announces loudly that Alex should come get her when she wants to leave. The other alien could stake a counter claim, it was in their culture to do so, but this species has no powers. And to challenge supergirl for her mate would be suicidal. Kara banks on that logic and is glad to see the alien cut her conversation with Alex short, who rejoins their group promptly being none the wiser.

When Kara falls asleep after cuddling session on her couch she couldn’t be happier.

 

 

 **It’s not just with aliens** where Kara is extra protective, because that is all it is, for her older sister.

She dusts half a parking garage off her clothes and hair, picking large concrete chunks from between the blond strands, and straightens metal bar which had folded itself around Kara’s thighs when she crashed through the wall. She gives herself an 8 out of 10 for her performance today. Only a single parking lot was destroyed, and not even completely!

With a smile on her face she turns towards the direction of her sister’s slightly elevated heartbeat. What she sees replaces her smile with a frown.

Alex, having been tasked with evacuating civilians, is in conversation with a woman who has become just a tad too handsy. A stunning blonde is raking her nails down Alex’s arm. Kara scowls that _that_ is the reason of Alex’s raised heart rate.

“… it seems I owe you my life, agent.” _Ugh,_ Kara can’t listen to it. She wants to step in and save Alex but is suddenly self conscious. She casts a glance toward the puddle she’d created when throwing the alien through a wall that contained piping. The woman vying for Alex’s attention is a vision, while Kara looks like she’d just been catapulted through three stories and a car.

She runs her hand through the leaking stream of water on clears most of the gray dust stuck to her face.

Kara walks over to the pair, the woman had convinced Alex that she was injured and wanted her sister to perform a quick hands on medical. Surely Alex isn’t as foolish to go through with that? The blonde was beautiful and she won’t blame her sister if she does.

Then she sees Alex slightly favors her left leg. She winces as she scans her sister for harm. A shrapnel of rubble had lodged itself in her upper leg, nothing serious or deadly, but she hates seeing Alex hurt and denotes three points from her score of today.

Alex sees her and smiles. The woman turns to her too but her smile is much less friendly. _Hello_ , _I just saved your life, a little gratitude could go a long way._ “Supergirl, excellent job like always.” Alex gestures towards the other blonde. “She was just telling me how grateful she was that we were here to help. Supergirl meet Amy.”

“Amber.” The blonde corrects kindly and Kara can’t help but smirk. She looks _Amy_ over and notices her dull brown eyes and less than perfect nose and ears, score two for the Krypotian. The blonde was pretty but Kara knows she’s prettier.

Her petty thoughts take her off guard. She’s normally not bitchy like this. Before she has time to process, Amy takes Alex’s hand and puts it on her upper leg. Her reservations disappear as soon as they had arrived. “That’s where it hurts, agent. A bit higher too.”

Two could play that game. She kneels next to Alex, tentatively reaches out and softly places her hands near Alex’s injury on her thigh. Expecting a hiss of pain, she hears instead the short intake of air. She’s probably still running on adrenaline. Kara doesn’t like hurting Alex, but sometimes she needs to or Alex would let wounds fester and be worse off. She pushes slightly harder until she hears the painful hiss.

“You’re injured, agent.” She says in her Supergirl voice. Tenderly she caresses the area around the wound and she feels the muscles relax under her touch. She looks at Amy with a glare and predatory smile. The other blonde drops Alex’s hand like it’s burning and takes a step back. Kara’s smile turns into a menacing grin. When she turns back to Alex, this grin is replaced with a worried look.

With a yelp from her sister, Kara rises from her knees and swoops Alex in her arms. “S-supergirl, what are you—?”

“Taking you back to base, you need treatment.” She turns to Amy. “Have a good day, Amy.”

When she launches herself in the air, she swears she hears the blonde mutter that her name is Amber. With Alex secure in her arms, her left hand encircles Alex’s left wrist securely while she flies. Moments later, she lands in the DEO medical bay and drops her unceremoniously in a bed. Alex’s cheeks are flushed red as Kara quickly drags a doctor from his lunch break. “Fix her.”

She stays until Alex is cleared and convinces herself that it was just a medical necessity and she’s not jealous.

 

 **It is more difficult around people that know her.** Alex’s newfound sexuality opens her up to attention from angles Kara has not anticipated. Vasquez apparently is bisexual _and_ interested.

She first notices when she comes by to find Alex not in her lab—where she spends way too much time when she could be with Kara!—but in the gym. She picks up the elevated heartrate, a constant 190 beats per minute, and conjures up images what Alex could be doing that was exhausting her. She imagines her lithe body with muscles all tensed up, sweat dripping down her neck into her sports bra which was soaked. Her imagined Alex punches in a steady rhythm against a punching bag, each move accentuating the muscle in her shoulders all the way down her spine. She swallows—she isn’t aroused simply because she listens to a raised heartrate. No—she just appreciates the work Alex puts in to be able to help her in the field. Appreciates it in her nether regions. A _lot_.

She opens the door to the gym and freezes. Her fantasies didn’t do it justice. Alex is clad in short shorts and a sports bra only, her abs on full display and tensed up. The agent balances on one foot while kicking the living daylight out of the unfortunate bag.  Kara eyes trail down the feet striking against the top of the bag—Alex is extremely flexible—and follows the tight calf muscles, to thigh muscles up her smooth pale skin. Her eyes linger on her abs and core for just a moment before following upwards to her sweaty cleavage where they stop. She swallows the rising hunger back down again—a Kryptonian biological reaction when they’re aroused. Kara can’t ignore that now anymore—she _was_ attracted to her sister.

Alex is totally consumed by her exhaustive training regime that she has not noticed her entrance. She kicks up and spins mid air to switch feet with a spectacular flourish, switching the her balance from foot to the other. Now Kara has view of Alex’s backside and she barely contains a hungry moan. _What is wrong with me?_ She had always known that Alex was hot—and Alex _was_ her first crush ever. But she thought she was over that a long time ago.

Tearing her eyes away from Alex’s bottom with a force even the superpowered Kryptonian can barely muster she finds that she’s not the only one captivated. A short, dark haired agent is staring lecherously at her sister who had no clue. That won’t do! No one stares at her sister like that—Kara conveniently forgets that _she_ was staring exactly like that.

She walks by Alex and straight to agent Vasquez, who was wearing a similar attire to her sister. The agent snaps out of it when she sees her approaching. Her brown eyes become guarded as she approaches, Kara was known to be protective of her sister. “Supergirl.”

“Agent Vasquez.” She nods. “How’s your _training_ going?” Kara stresses word.

“Good.” She didn’t have a drop of sweat on her body.

“Need a sparring partner?” There’s a clear challenge in her voice. She points towards the Kryptonite layered boxing ring where she trains with Alex quite often. There wasn’t enough Kryptonite to hurt her, but precisely enough to take away her abilities, leaving her with human strength. Kara is buff though, so her human strength is still quite a lot.

Vasquez swallows. “I’m sure Alex would…”

“It’s not good to only train against one person. Otherwise I only know how to defeat them and not another opponent.” She does not add that, in the ring, she has never actually defeated Alex. She walks over to the ring and turns on the depowering radiation. She immediately feels the effects, gravity pulling her down just a bit more as she adjusts to the new circumstances.

The whirring of the machine takes Alex out of her rhythm. “Hey Kara.” Only the three of them are in the gym and all three know her identity. Alex walks over and gives her a brief sweaty hug—Kara pretends she didn’t inhale her sister’s scent. Fresh sweat smells good on her. Kara’s hands come to rest on Alex’s abs. “I’m a bit exhausted to go on a sparring session with you.”

“Oh no, Susan will be joining me. Switching it up, you know.” Kara also doesn’t trust herself with Alex right now and finally notices where her hands had been resting, which she pulls back as if burned.

Alex turns her head in the direction of the challenged agent, who now knows she can’t back down.

Kara shrugs out of her sweater and steps in the ring as Supergirl. Ready to stake her claim.

 

It is Kara who taps out first. Bruised and battered, she hadn’t known Susan was about as well trained as Alex. What she also didn’t know was that Alex held back when they sparred in here—so she overestimated her own capabilities. Her ego is bruised, while her mission was to teach agent Vasquez a lesson not to ogle her sister.

She groans as she collapses under the weight of her arms and sprawls out over the floor. Kara sees agent Vasquez cast a worried glance towards Alex, fearful of retribution, but it was a fair bout and there wouldn’t be any. Well, about as fair as a fight between Winn and James would be. Every muscle aches and her arms didn’t respond as she tried to get back on her feet.

A pair of feet come to stop next to her head and two arms turn her from her stomach to her back. She whimpers slightly at her sore limbs. Alex hangs over her, her face is mere centimeters from hers. Kara puts on a scowl. “You were holding back all the time?!”

An apologetic Alex looks away sheepishly. “I have years of training more than you. It wouldn’t be fair to you otherwise.” Kara pouts, but pulls Alex’s attention back to her by capturing her left wrist with her left hand.

“Can I make it up to you?” Alex rubs her free hand over Kara’s sore thigh muscles and she lets out a sigh. “Massage?” Something short wires in her brain and she lets out a breathy ‘yes’. “You should let go of my hand though.”

Susan turns off the Kryptonite and Kara’s strength returns immediately and her pain fades. She doesn’t tell Alex this as her hands are still rubbing her—no longer—injured legs. The agent that leered at her sister leaves the room and Kara enjoys the massage.

Even though her ego is mightily bruised, she calls today a win.

 

 **In the end, she is betrayed by her own species.** It happens when Kal-El, or Clark as he prefers, comes over for dinner on the anniversary of the day that Kara arrived on Earth. Even though she’s currently happy, for Kara it still is the day that Krypton exploded and she lost her parents.

Kara’s plans for today were to stay in bed and be depressed, and only Alex was invited. They’re snuggled up next to each other in the large bed, though most of the available space in unused. The bell rings. “Alex are we expecting people?”

Alex hops out of bed, she was the only one fully clothed having come over from her own place and opens the door with a smile. “Clark.”

Kara is next to her in a flash, her pajamas switched for one of her normal outfits in a blur of motion. “Kal-El?” She stands to right of Alex and trails her hand automatically back to Alex’s wrist. Superman’s eyes flick to the movement.

“Alex, what is this?” She asks.

“Surprise?” The elevator dings on the far side of the building and Eliza, Winn, James and J’onn come out. “We’re having a brunch with the whole gang where you can tell us trivial things about Krypton that we don’t know yet.”

Sometimes Kara doesn’t know how Alex does it. She doesn’t think about Krypton as often as she should, but on this data the loss of her planet feels the heaviest. But telling a captured audience what Krypton was like, about her old customs, their admittedly silly habits, and the—for them—alien culture, was something Kara would love to do.

A big smile got on her face and she buries her head Alex’s neck. “Thank you.” She mumbles.

Soon enough her small apartment is bustling with life. Eliza and Alex set the table for the food that everyone brought along and Kara is animatedly telling a story about the space ship races she’d use to watch and wanted to join in. “… they weaved through asteroid fields at relativistic speeds, sometimes not able to dodge an incoming rock. I wanted to join them so badly because it was awesome. Alura and Astra forbade it, but my father took me on a ride once in secret.”

That was her fondest memory of her father. She remembers how she was tightly pressed in the cockpit of a racer pod meant for only one adult, and how deftly her father steered through the asteroids.

“I was scared half to death, which was his goal.” Her attentive listeners laugh. She looks around the small group surrounding her on the floor of her apartment. Large pillows are propped up and serve as emergency seating. Winn and James have taken seats next to each other. Lois is wrapped up in Clark’s arms, resting her head against his chest, Clark’s arms encircle her and his left hand rests along her wrist. J'onn is the only one perched on a chair.

Kara likes this. She’s not lamenting about Kryptons destruction as she usually.

“Is it true that Kryptonians didn’t marry for love?” Lois asks. While Clark must have told Lois this, Kara is the expert on Krypton. She nods in response.

“It was quite the scandal when Clark’s parents bonded. Then they upped the ante and had a biological kid. The horror!” She exaggerates her scandalous expression.

Her cousin laughs and nods towards the kitchen. “Luckily neither of us are upholding that tradition.”

What does he mean? She turns her head in puzzlement. He holds on Lois left wrist that is captured in between the thumb and index finger of his left hand.

Winn speaks up in excitement. “Hey! That’s how Kara always holds on to Alex.”

Movement in the kitchen stops.

Clark continues oblivious. “This is a display of affection between bondmates, right?”

Kara sees every single time she held Alex exactly this way. That’s every day, in public, everywhere. ' _Holding someone’s left wrist is the highest intimacy in our society, Kara. Most bond mates never achieve it.’_

Kara knows this, Kara _lives_ this. She’s shied away from people attempting to touch her left wrist all throughout her time on Earth, earning her the label ‘weirdo’ in high-school when she wasn’t subtle enough, but Alex had _never_ been a problem. The first time she’d touched Alex’s wrist, or let Alex touch hers like that, would have been years ago.

Faced with a reality and a truth she’s unwilling and unable to face right now, Kara does the only thing she can. She lies.

“N-no. It’s just a normal display of affection. Nothing close at all to being the single most intimate display of affection besides sex, maybe even more intimate than sex. So not at all like what I just said. It’s like a hug. Yep, just a hug.”

So, that should clear the air around it, good job Kara. Clark lowers his and Lois hand, Winn looks stunned, and she cannot hear a sound beyond the raging heartbeat from the kitchen.

“So…” she claps her hands, “did I tell you about the time I almost caused a blood feud between two Great Houses on Krypton?”

 

 

Kara is cleaning the table as slow as she can manage while Alex sees their guests out. All throughout their lunch her sister had been strangely quiet. Not that Alex is the most talkative, Kara has her beat in that regard, but she could feel those piercing eyes on her the entire time.

She hears the door close and soon enough Alex appears in the doorway to the kitchen. Kara ignores her and promptly starts humming a song while going even slower with cleaning up.

A hand on her shoulder stops her and she freezes. “Kara.”

“H-hey. Didn’t see you there.” Alex shakes her head with a faint smile on her face. Alex’s other hand slips around her left wrist, and Kara doesn’t stop her but automatically extends get arm towards the brunette. She shivers at the contact.

“What exactly does this mean Kara? For you this is more intimate than sex?”

“No, I remember saying that it’s specifically _not_ more intimate. It was just an example.” She’s not fooling either of them.

“What does this mean _for you?”_

“I don’t know, okay?” Kara feels it coming, the introspective ramble, but is unable to stop it. “It is the most intimate gesture for me. I don’t know when I started using it with you, it was before I found you crazy attractive and got all flustered around you. Not that I ever found you not attractive, just, on a different level.”

“Kara stop.” Alex drags her towards the bed to sit down on.

“I think that started after you became available, when you said you were gay. Well, as available as a sister can be.” _Shut up._ “But this is much more than physical. Of course, in Krypton society this hold always included physical attraction, but physical relations existed without this intimacy.”

She stares past Alex into the distance out of her windows. “I think I started after I saved you from that plane crash. But I know I’ve had the urge before. I haven’t had this with James or Mon-El, and I thought I was in love with the latter, but perhaps that wasn’t true. Shit, I think this means I’m in love with…”

And now she finally manages to clamp her mouth shut with her hands. Alex stares at her with wide eyes. This is why she hates her introspective rambles. Right as she discovers something for herself, has had no time to process it, she’s revealed it so the person that she least wanted.

Tears shoot into her eyes. This is the stuff that ruins friendships, does it also ruin sister-ships?

She’s pulled into a comforting embrace. “Ssh. It’s okay. I’m not running away.”

Part of her is angry at Alex, for forcing her hand. Her sister _knows_ how her rambles work. Though now this is out in the open, she feels a burden lift from her shoulders she didn’t know she was carrying.

“Is this also why you become insanely jealous whenever someone talks, or looks at me? I remember that alien in the bar, that woman, Amy I think—”

“Amber,” Kara corrects.

“Amber. And even Vasquez.”

She wants to defend herself but is unable to come up with any excuse. Not even a bad one. So she nods.

She understands her actions now. They were instinctual, primal even. Kryptonians prided themselves with their advanced and rational society, but Kara knows now that without their extreme rules on life and relationships, their society would crumble to the most primal levels. No, it was a necessity, because doing otherwise was to perish.

“I was thinking you were a cock block for no reason.” Oh. _Alex_ was flirting. An irrational jealous anger wells up and she quenches it hopefully before Alex notices. “That makes you jealous?”

Defeated, she nods. Alex shifts back, putting some distance between them. She wonders what Alex is thinking right now. Does she think that Kara is disgusting for loving her sister? She shakes her head. Alex catches it. “What are you thinking?”

“Wondering what you are thinking.”

Alex pauses before she answers. “I don’t know what to think. You’ve really surprised me here, on multiple levels.”

“I’ve surprised myself.” Alex laughs at her confused expression. “Wait, multiple levels?”

“Yeah, uh, I didn’t know you liked women, too. I just assumed, you know, because you’ve only ever dated men, that you were straight.”

Oh. Kara wonders if she’s bisexual. “I don’t know _what_ I am. I’ve wanted to have sex with a few people before, but you’re actually the first I’ve fantasized about.”

She blushes after having said that out loud. Kara’s used to be able to ramble to Alex without her sister judging her for any of her crazy thoughts. Not having a filter among Alex really is a detriment now.

Kara sees Alex shiver and tilts her head. It’s not cold in this room, is it? Alex sees her confusion and levels the playing field by being honest. “It’s… arousing, thinking that fantasized about me.”

Oh. _Oh._ Hearing someone admit they fantasize about you is only arousing if you find the other person at least somewhat attractive—otherwise it’s creepy. Ergo, she was at least somewhat attractive to her sister. A smile creeps on her face.

“Don’t run too fast, Romeo.” Alex nudges her when she notices where her thoughts went. “I need some time to process this development. And you do, too.” Despite not wanting to, Kara nods in agreement. She can’t help but waver a bit until Alex pulls her in a hug. “No matter what, you’ll always be my number one.” Kara tucks her head under Alex’s chin. Exhausted she falls asleep in Alex’s embrace.

 

 

With their luck, they don’t end up speaking with each other for nearly a month. Sure, they talk and work together, and nothing’s changed there. They discuss how to defeat the monster of the week, they save a few hundred people here and there. They’ve also prevented a major disaster with a nuclear missile flying towards China. But nothing _important._

That last one was pretty cool though. Kara had to fight off flying drones while she deposited Alex on top of the missile, who, with magnetic boots to keep her attached, disabled it while it was soaring through the sky.

So she knows Alex isn’t avoiding her.

Because Kara was kind of avoiding Alex.

She so badly _wants_ to talk to Alex, find out what she thinks, but she also _doesn’t_ want to do that, because she’s afraid of what Alex thinks.

So she’s avoiding the issue by surrounding herself with people. Currently back in her alien bar, with Alex’s colleagues keeping Alex from confronting her. Her sister never was one to make a scene.

Kara is talking to an alien she’d saved earlier this week. Nothing heroic, she just gave Zhiru directions to the nearest extra-terrestrial registration center to get his immigration papers. This man was expressing his thanks by buying her copious amounts of food, something she could never say no to.

“So you’re famous here.” He asks and she nods.

“Yup, I’m the local superhero. Saving lives, stopping crime, you know how it is.” She awkwardly ducks under the admiration in his eyes. Kara had learned a little bit of the effect she has on people. Winn had sat her down and explained the ‘Supergirl’ effect. _“Kara,_ everyone _falls in love with you.”_ If only that were true. She casts a glance at Alex, who was in a discussion with Winn about something technical. _If only._

“Where I’m from, I’m famous too.” The alien puffs out his chest, she sees the small scales covering his body glisten in the light of the bar.

“Oh, really?” She tries to keep him talking as she finishes the plate of fries and immediately her companion orders a fresh plate. Kara hums appreciatively as she stuffs her mouth full.

“I’m a, currently indisposed, prince.” _Exiled_ , Kara is sure he means, why else would he apply for refugee status on Earth. “Like Earth, my star is yellow, too.”

Ah, so _that’s_ why. He wants her help retaking his kingdom. Kara is no longer naïve, but she really likes food, and nods along while finishing the last fry on her plate, _again._ Putting in some charm, she rests her hand on his thigh. “It’s horrible that they took your kingdom away.” She blinks a few times and looks sadly at her plate. Immediately it’s refreshed with some kind of breadcrumb covered deep fried balls, about the size of a golfball. She bites into one, and sighs at the taste. Kara had never had these before but they were delicious.

“If only there was someone who could help me retake the kingdom. I might even make her a princess.”

“Or prince, my cousin Kal also has powers in the yellow sun.” She laughs at Zhiru’s stricken expression. So it wasn’t just his kingdom, he wanted her as well. An arm sneaks its way around her middle and a warm body presses against hers. She leans into the familiar touch.

“Superman might be a better option to become your prince, your _Highness._ ” Kara snaps her head to Alex. She sees narrowed eyes and a hostile glare. Is it—yes—Alex was jealous and territorial. Kara is downright giddy inside but decides to up the ante.

“I don’t know. I always fancied becoming a princess.” An incredulous look passes on Alex’s face and Kara can barely contain her smirk.

It is then that Alex captures her left wrist in her left hand and Kara freezes. At the same time, Zhiru sees the gesture and backs off, taking three steps backwards. Blue eyes flick between the fingers wrapped around her wrist and the person they belong to. He mumbles a very quick apology and hastily speeds away. Alex _knows_ what this means. The other alien is forgotten and Kara turns to face Alex.

“’Lex, please don’t use—“

“I’m not.” Alex stares at her, eyes unwavering. “I’m just staking _my_ claim.”

Kara lets out a shaky breath. Alex’s eyes widen as she must feel Kara’s heartrate spike through the veins on the wrist. Immediately it dawns on her foster sister why Kryptonians have this precise intimate gesture. On Earth, Kara didn’t _need_ it per se, but the intimacy still prevailed.

“Oh.” Alex whispers. “That’s why…”

“Are you sure?” She searches for any sign of doubt in those eyes but finds none. She knows that Alex must have spent the last month rationalizing and ruminating, she hardly ever does things without thinking about them.

“Very.” Alex nods and then smiles sheepishly. “It took a paradigm shift to view you as something else, but once the option became available and I seriously considered it, the conclusion was obvious.”

“This gotta be the least romantic declaration of love.” Kara laughs when her sister ducks her head.

“That’s not—I mean, you _do_ check all my pluses on any list I created, and I couldn’t think of any negative—“ Alex grimaces again and Kara can’t help but chuckle. She finally notices how nervous Alex really is and brushes her lips against her cheek for a brief familial peck.

“Relax, Alex. You wouldn’t be able to scare me away if you tried.” Kara twists such that Alex is pressed against her back, completing the Kryponian tradition by fully submitting to the one that claimed her. The submission wasn’t a power imbalance, it was a sign of trust.

“This is part of your mating rituals?” Kara nods. “You used to hold me like this quite often.” Kara’s nod is more trepid this time. “Don’t worry, I didn’t mind and still don’t.”

A pregnant pause follows in which Kara closes her eyes and simple enjoys being held. This hug is not much different than previous ones they had. It’s not more sensual, it’s not tighter or longer. The only thing that’s different is that they’re on the same page now. Alex holding her like this means the same as Kara holding Alex.

“So,” she says finally after a long pause. “Where do we go from here?”

Alex shrugs. “I’m surprised I even got this far. Thought I’d chicken out.” Kara snorts in her drink.

“You do not chicken out, ever.” She leans back into the embrace. “You may need some help making a decision, but once you do you steam right ahead. Remember how you kissed Maggie without even _asking_.”

Once, this would have been a painful memory. But Alex surprisingly laughs at her mishaps, Kara’s body shaking along.

“That I do, which means you’re stuck with me now.”

Kara turns in Alex's embrace and wraps her hands around Alex’s neck. “Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little fluffy one-shot that grew about 5 times in size.


End file.
